


Fair's Fair

by Callisto_HK



Series: The Children Are Our Future [7]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Adopted Children, Adoption, Alternate Universe, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally Hurt Tony, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid Abby, Kid Fic, Kid Tony, Past Child Abuse, Tony Angst, Tony DiNozzo & Jethro Gibbs Father-Son Relationship, Tony-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-05-30 18:52:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19409293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callisto_HK/pseuds/Callisto_HK
Summary: Gibbs and Shannon love their kids; adopted or not! They both agree Tony and Abby are the best things that ever happened to them. It's just that, sometimes, it takes time to teach an old dog new tricks!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone; it's been so long since my last story, in this universe, and in general.
> 
> I haven't forgotten about it, but the truth is I've been going through some of the worst days of my life and it's been too hard to concentrate on anything but the pain and the loss! Heck, It's been too hard to keep breathing most of the times!
> 
> A couple of weeks ago, I found some of the ideas and plots that I've apparently written last year and I thought that maybe working on them, now, would be therapeutic; or at the very least, I'd post my last few stories before quitting altogether.
> 
> Hopefully, you haven't given up on me and you'll keep reading my stories and I hope you can leave a review to let me know what you think.
> 
> Huge thanks to all of you who sent me messages or left reviews asking for more stories.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this one.

**.**

**. Fair's Fair.**

**.**

"Did I or did I not tell you _not_ to come down to the basement?" Gibbs was angry at his two children who, despite his _very_ clear instruction, had sneaked into the basement.

"We just wanted to see it." Abby whined, referring to the ancient vase that Gibbs had hidden there to give to his wife for their anniversary; the vase that now was broken because these two little snoopy kids had to touch it and when he'd called their names, they'd apparently gotten scared and dropped the thing.

"I'm sorry." Tony murmured, not looking up from the spot on the floor that he'd been staring at for the last five minutes that their father had been scolding them; or well _him_ ; because Abby was standing behind the man and he'd been addressing _him_ the whole time he'd been glaring and telling them off.

"Your apology doesn't fix the vase, does it?" The father growled. "When I give you an order, I expect you to follow it!"

"Won't happen again." Tony promised quietly.

"Damn right it won't." Gibbs snapped, once again forgetting to watch his language around kids. "You're grounded for the next two weeks; no TV; no movies, no game, no going out, no staying up late. You're not allowed to talk or play with Abby and you're not allowed to touch your toys. No touching means no touching! When you're not at the table for a meal or doing your chores, you'll be in your room. You can read your books. But that's it. Clear?"

Tony looked up to see if Abby would be addressed next, but found Abby still behind the man.

Apparently he was the only one being punished. Well, he was used to it; the whole thing was probably his fault, even though _Abby_ had insisted that they go and check out whatever 'Daddy' had been hiding in the basement and _she_ had been the one taking the vase and then dropping it when their Dad had called their names. But well, he knew it had to somehow be his fault; he knew he kept screwing up and his father had always told him he was a bad influence; so, _his_ fault really. Nodding his head, he said, "Yes, Sir."

As he was walking up the stairs, he heard Abby whining and telling their dad that now she'd be _really_ bored; and heard Jethro's response who replied that she could play with her friends and go to the playground until Tony's punishment was over.

Yes, he was the only one being punished; but Abby was a girl and she was more important; he knew he deserved to be punished. The Gibbs' had been so kind to let him live with them instead of returning him to his real house when they found him running away from his father, but that didn't mean they had to put up with his mistakes and ignore it when he messed up. And besides, he could take any punishment, and at least he wasn't being beaten; so he guessed everything was fair and right.

He didn't mind spending two weeks reading his books; that could be fun if he tried.

.

.

That evening, when Shannon came home, she wondered what was going on that Tony seemed so quiet and hadn't left his room until dinner. She of course asked him if he was alright and the little boy had merely nodded.

Looking around to see if she could find anything amiss, she found her husband looking rigid and upset and Abby throwing worried glances at her brother and her father. So, naturally, she'd aimed the question at her, asking _her_ what'd happened.

The young woman noticed her husband's lips moving with curses that he was muttering under his breath when she addressed Abby and the little girl dutifully started to give a detailed and complete account of everything.

She told her about going to the basement and then touching the vase, which Shannon didn't know of because seriously, why would a vase be in the basement, and then Abby told her about getting scared and dropping and accidentally breaking it. At last, she told her about _'daddy'_ being mad and punishing Tony and that's why Tony was quiet, because he wasn't allowed to do anything but eat his food, do his chores and read in his room.

By the end of her tale, Tony's head was even lower, which the nurse in Shannon liked even less that the mother in her, because clearly that position wasn't good for his neck. And Jethro was finishing his food way too quickly like he wanted to get away from the table.

She thanked the little girl and told the two children who were done with their food to go to their rooms, ' _please'_ ; she needed to have a talk with her man.

"So?"

"So?" Gibbs growled, not looking away from the TV screen and the news.

Grabbing the remote control, she turned it off and sat on the couch. "First of all, what's this vase Abby's talking about?"

That seemed to be the wrong question to start with, because her husband stiffened and a look of sadness covered his face which was quickly followed by rage.

"Jethro?" She prodded gently.

"It was supposed to be a surprise." He sighed, "For our anniversary."

It took a moment for her to get what he meant, but when she did, her face broke into a big smile. "Aww, Jethro! Thank you."

"It's broken, now." The man said coldly.

"It's the thoughts that counts."

Jethro clearly didn't think that way, though, because he got up and went to the basement, looking anything but convinced. Shannon followed him down and looked over his shoulder at the broken vase.

"It's beautiful." She smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Stop it." The man groaned.

"What?"

"It's broken, Shannon."

"It's not too bad; it can be put together again." She said reasonably and then grabbed her husband's face and turned it towards her, kissing his lips gently. "It _is_ the thought that counts, Jethro. _And_ I don't care if it's broken, I love it. Thank you."

The man smiled faintly.

"So the kids sneaked in and saw it before me, huh?" She chuckled.

"I _told_ them to stay away from the basement." He growled and pulled away, walking to a stool to sit on.

Shannon laughed quietly. "Well, they're _kids_. It's a given that sometimes they'd do what they're told not to. Pretty sure that's how they learn things."

"Not in my house." The man snapped.

"Whoa! Tone down the drill instructor. They're kids, not your soldiers." She rolled her eyes. "If everyone, who was told not to touch something, listened, then we wouldn't be here."

"In the basement?" The man looked confused.

"On the earth." She chuckled.

"What?" Now he was really baffled.

"The original sin? Adam and Eve were told to stay away from that tree, too!" She reminded her husband and seeing the man rolling his eyes, she continued, "Seriously, humans are _supposed_ to be curious; kids even more so. You gotta start learning to bend a little. Loosen up; you know."

"You sure you're a nurse?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not a preacher or something are you?"

Laughing, she shook her head. "No. But we do have to pass psychology courses to become a nurse. So..." She smiled. "Speaking of psychology... Couldn't you be a bit more lenient or something?"

"No. Next time when I tell them to do something, they'll listen."

"Again with the drill instructor, I see." She sighed. "And why did it sound like Tony is the only one being punished?"

"Because he is."

"What?"

"I can't punish Abby."

"What?" Shannon repeated, frowning as she felt a strange feeling in her chest. "Why not? Didn't they commit the _crime_ together?"

Shaking his head at his wife's choice of words, Gibbs said, "Yes, but it's Abby."

"And the other one is _Tony_ /! The boy who'd been abused as long as he remembers."

Gibbs closed his eyes at the reminder of that; but he refused to believe he'd done anything wrong. "I didn't hit him. He's just grounded."

"OK, not my point; I'm asking you why you think Tony with that background can take a punishment, and Abby can't."

"Because it's Abby." He repeated.

"And she's your favorite?" She asked with a dangerous edge in her voice.

"God, no! I don't do favorite." He denied quickly, but even _he_ knew that his actions were screaming a different story.

"So what?"

"So... She's a _girl_."

Shannon's eyes widened and she jumped up from the stool. "Oh, for Pete's sake, could you be any more sexist?"

"What?" Gibbs was surprised at the sudden turn of events.

"Just because Abby's a girl doesn't mean she's weaker."

"What? How did you get that from my words? Of course she's not weaker."

"And yet you just punished Tony for something that they did _together_." Shannon shook her head. "Or maybe you think it's alright for Abby to do whatever she wants, but the moment Tony moves he has to be put in his place?"

"Shannon!"

"No! If something is wrong, it's wrong for both of them; not just Tony."

"Abby can learn by example." He reasoned weakly, already feeling a bit bad for being so hard just on Tony.

"And Tony's so stupid that he can't?"

"I didn't-"

"That's what I got from your excuse." She cut him off harshly. That woman could really be a force to be reckoned with. "And you know what? You're not helping Abby with your behavior, either. I know you're old-school and everything; but you gotta learn that if you go this way, thinking that girls and women are the weaker gender-"

"I never said women are weaker." Gibbs protested feebly.

"More fragile, unable to take punishment, _undeserving_ of punishments for their mistakes; whatever;" she growled. "If you keep acting like that, Abby won't become stronger; she'll just grow up to be this overgrown kid who thinks she can get away with anything and that everyone should always be at her service and do things her way. And I refuse to let you raise her like that. _My_ girl is gonna grow up into a strong, compassionate woman who actually knows right from wrong and never demands the others to be her pawn just because she can start crying and stomping her foot on a whim. And she sure won't be a _'my way or the highway'_ kinda girl because I won't let you be that kinda man anymore. You know, since ' _she learns by example'_."

Gibbs swallowed. "I'm not-"

"You're not what?" She cut him off again. "Go on, tell me this is not who you are. Tell me you don't think things should always go _your_ way."

Gibbs wanted to point out that at that moment it was Shannon who was forcing him to see things _her_ way, but wisely kept quiet.

"Hell, just a few minutes ago you've gone all drill instructor on me, saying that _'in your house'_ " she used finger quoting to emphasize her point, "things will be the way _you_ demand."

OK, maybe she had a point. Gibbs sighed and let his shoulders drop in defeat.

Sighing, Shannon paced the floor for a couple of minutes in silence, making Gibbs think that she should be a school principal or a headmaster instead of a nurse; but either way, she'd clearly jumped into the role of a fierce lioness- or maybe a mama bear- pretty well.

"I'm not gonna cancel Tony's punishment this time or do anything against what you've done." She finally said, her voice still carrying that dangerous tone. "But only because I think that'd be a bad example and I don't want for our kids to start seeing us anything other than _one_ unit. I don't want them to think your words carry no weight because I can do differently and I don't want _you_ to do anything against my words in future. ' _Learn by example!'_ " She repeated the annoying words that had left Gibbs' mouth minutes earlier. " _But_ , keep in mind, the next time _they_ do something, Tony won't be the only one paying for it. And Abby will never get away with things that deserve to be addressed strictly."

"You'd make a mean DI." Gibbs smiled wanly, but it vanished quickly at the glare he received.

"I'm not joking."

"I know. I know." He held his hands up. "I get it."

"You'd better." She said and walked up the stairs, leaving her husband alone with his thoughts.

**.**

**.**

**TBC ...**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's far from over!


	2. Chapter 2

About two months later, everyone seemed to have forgotten about that broken vase and the punishments that had been dealt unfairly.

Everyone but Tony, probably. He wasn't one to forget an important lesson, because he'd been taught that if you forgot a lesson, the punishment would get harder, which made total sense in his head. It didn't matter that physical punishment wasn't the norm in his new home; being scolded, glared and grounded were just as bad, because if anything, he hated disappointing Gibbs more than he did with his real father since unlike DiNozzo Sr., Gibbs had some standards which were reachable and rules which didn't change much and if he followed them he could even get an ' _Attaboy_ ' out of his new dad which made him feel really good.

So yes, feeling that he'd let his new dad down was something that he didn't like to experience again. He looked up to the man and wanted to be just like him when he grew up; so he'd listen to him and he'd listen good, so that he wouldn't disappoint him again.

That was why he went through his punishment without a word of protest and even after his two weeks were over, he didn't start his normal routine until both Shannon and Gibbs told him that he could go out and play.

And that was why after that, he was extra careful around Abby, making sure she was safe and happy; because their dad loved Abby and Tony was sure he'd be really upset and disappointed if Tony let anything happen to her.

And that was specifically why when Abby, lost in her world of following bugs and playing with them; entered Mr. Anderson's front yard and accidentally stepped on some of his flowers, Tony quickly walked in after her and tried to take her out of there.

Everyone in the neighborhood knew Mr. Anderson hated children and loved his flowers. So now that his flowers had been stomped on by a little kid, he'd certainly be furious and boy, furious he was! He arrived just as Tony was telling Abby she should be more careful and angrily demanded some answers.

Tony was scared out of his mind; the man sounded just like his father and had the same fire in his eyes, but Abby was more important; he couldn't let the man punish Abby, so he lied and confessed to something that he hadn't done.

The backhand that he received to his cheek sent him to the ground and he hit the concrete floor so hard that his whole right side screamed in pain. Still, despite the throbbing pain in his face, the ringing in his ear and the hurting of his body, he didn't say a word and kept his tears at bay. His father hated tears and sometime around his fourth birthday, Tony had promised himself to never ever cry again.

Pushing himself up, he quickly put himself between Abby and the angry man and once he felt the man's eyes were away from them, he grabbed Abby's arm and started to run to their own house.

Once they were finally safe inside the walls of their house, Abby burst into tears, sobbing her heart out. Tony pushed his own pain and fears aside and hugged her, trying to calm her down and felt relieved when he heard their dad coming down the stairs.

"Abby? What's wrong, baby?" Gibbs asked worriedly and quickly went to her side and hugged her.

Tony looked at them and quietly stepped away, feeling like he was in the way.

When Abby kept sobbing and mumbling broken words, Gibbs glanced at Tony and asked him the question, sounding less soft than when he'd asked Abby; thinking that Tony had done something to upset her. "What's wrong with her? Why's she crying?"

Tony wasn't sure what to say; should he tell the truth about Abby doing something wrong? Or should he take the blame again? "Uh, she's scared. Mr. Anderson was mad and-"

"Why is Mr. Anderson mad?"

"His flowers were stomped on and... and..." He swallowed hard, "I'm sorry."

For a brief second, anger flashed in Gibbs' eyes. He stood up, Abby still in his arms and looked down at Tony; disappointment clear in his eyes. "How many times have I told you not to go near his house? The man cares about those flowers; it's not a crime! Is it too hard to understand you're not allowed to enter his yard?"

Tony silently shook his head; he suddenly didn't feel brave enough to tell the truth. He hadn't lied about anything, but the man still assumed it was his fault and was again disappointed. The little boy really felt like crying now, because no matter what he did, he still kept letting his dad down. He just didn't know how not to do that. "I'm sorry." He mumbled, for totally a different reason than Gibbs had in mind.

"You keep saying that but it means nothing when you keep messing up." he wasn't yelling, but he sounded so cold that Tony wished he would be shouting instead.

"Go to your room. You're grounded for a month. I'm really disappointed in you." With that, he walked away to calm his baby girl down.

This time, Tony couldn't control it; a lone tear dropped from his eye and rolled down his swelling, painful cheek.

.

.

Shannon, who was out shopping, came home half an hour later to find Abby sleeping on the couch and Gibbs on the phone. Tony wasn't anywhere around and she guessed the boy was out playing. Jethro seemed to be talking seriously with someone and judging by the way he was moving around and gathering things, she could say that they had a new case and he'd leave soon. She was proved right only seconds later when the man hung up the phone and grabbed his keys to leave when he finally saw his wife.

"Oh, hey, honey. I gotta go. Sorry." He kissed her cheek and ran out of the house.

He was out so fast that the woman didn't have the time to even respond to his words, let alone ask him when he'd be back and why on the earth Abby was sleeping in the middle of the day.

Feeling worried for her little girl, Shannon walked to the kitchen, put the bags of grocery on the counter and grabbed a pocket of juice with the first aid kit and walked back to Abby's side; thinking that she must be coming down with something.

Touching her forehead gently, she found it cool and normal.

The touch caused Abby to stir.

"Hey, baby girl." She smiled. "Are you feeling down?"

Abby shook her head and suddenly her eyes widened and her chin started to tremble again.

"Oh." Shannon was surprised. "What's wrong? Abby? What's wrong? Come on, baby."

Tears were running down her cheeks now and Shannon was feeling really helpless.

"Come on, tell Mommy what's wrong so I can help you, huh?"

It took them a few minutes, but finally Abby calmed down enough to explain why she was so upset and scared. The more she talked, the angrier Shannon got. How dare that old man Anderson hit her little boy? And how dare Jethro punish the boy again without letting him explain. Goddamn men and their pigheadedness.

Abby was crying again, saying that she didn't mean to get Tony into trouble and it was with the help of the juice that Shannon had brought with her that she finally stopped crying and soon fell back asleep.

Sighing, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a few seconds, trying to come up with the best approach to deal with the whole situation. There were several things that needed to be done; she had to talk to Tony, make sure he was alright and this time she, for sure, would cancel the unfair punishment, because the boy deserved a praise for what he'd done for his sister and now her husband had foolishly punished him again.

Enough was enough.

Also, she could guess that getting hit and yelled at must've brought back terrible memories for her little boy which would mean more nightmares and flashbacks.

She needed to deal with her husband, too. Gosh, the man was lucky to have caught a case and escaped her immediate wrath. She really could rip him a new one at that moment if he hadn't left home.

But first things first. There was an old man who'd overstepped his boundaries _waaay_ too much. No one laid a finger on his children and lived to tell the tale. He'd messed with the wrong family.

Gently, she laid Abby on the couch and quietly left the house.

A few minutes later, she arrived to the old man's house and found him in his yard, with his back to the entrance. She walked to him and stood there with her hands on her hips. A couple of other neighbors who'd witnessed what Anderson had done to her children, came out to watch how she'd put him in his place.

It took Anderson a couple of seconds to realize there was a shadow looming over him; turning around from where he was kneeling on the ground, he looked up to find a furious woman standing there; looking down at him like he was a bug.

"What?" He wasn't called a bastard for nothing, though.

Without a word, Shannon walked around him and deliberately stood on his flowers.

"What the hell are you doing, woman?" The man yelled and stood up to push her away, but despite his loud barks, he was a pretty small man and once he was standing, he barely reached Shannon's chin, which meant she was still towering over him.

Without a care, she moved her foot and stomped on another flower.

The man was now trembling with anger, but there was also a trace of fear in his eyes.

"Listen to me, old man." Shannon growled quietly, sounding like she'd actually kill him and bury him there with his flowers if he so much as blinked without her permission. "Touch my kids again and I'll personally uproot all your flowers and trees and plants _and_ your whole house. Hell, look their way and I'll make sure no flowers would ever grow in this yard."

"I'll call the cops. I'll tell them you're trespassing. You're an intruder. You've got no right-"

"Shut your big mouth." She shouted angrily, causing the old man to take a step back. The neighbors were watching the whole thing with amusement.

"You wanna call the cops? Please, be my guest, you abusive bastard. Call them and I'll report you for hurting a child. In fact, let me call them _myself_. I'm sure there were a few witnesses around."

A couple of neighbors chimed in, announcing that they'd seen the whole thing and would happily tell the cops about it.

The old man now looked anything but angry. He was scared and bashful.

"Do you still wanna call the cops?" Shannon asked menacingly.

The man just shook his head.

"The kids made a mistake; they didn't mean to come to your yard. Doesn't mean you're allowed to hurt them." She added; feeling like that as a polite woman, she needed to show what'd happened had truly been an accident. "If you'd just acted like a normal human being and told us about it, we would've made her apologize for her mistake and ground her for it and we would've paid you for whatever damage she'd caused. But now, now you're the enemy. Like I said, look my babies' way and you'll regret the day you planted your first flower. Is that clear?"

The man nodded again and Shannon turned to walk away, but then she paused and looked back; "Oh, and I'm sure you know my husband is an ex-marine who now is a Federal Agent. He really hates it when our kids are hurt, especially if someone hurts them without any regret and for no reason." She stated calmly. "I'm just saying that don't get too comfortable. Once he gets home and finds out what's happened here, things might get a tad hairy." She winced mockingly and walked away. She knew it wouldn't come to that, since Gibbs himself would be facing punishments by her by the time he found out what had happened; but it didn't hurt to scare Anderson a bit more.

The neighbors were laughing as they, too, walked their own ways and a few of them congratulated her for putting that old grumpy man in his place.

Anderson watched as she walked away and thought with himself that whatever Gibbs did to him, it'd be better than this woman's wrath.

**.**

**.**

**TBC ...**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this update is late; I've merged two chapters to make up for the long wait. Hope it's worth it.

"Tony, baby?" She knocked on her son's door and quietly walked in, expecting to find him asleep like Abby who was still on the couch.

She was wrong, though; the little boy was sitting on the floor, on the other side of the bed, his back against the small nightstand.

At first, she couldn't see his features, but as at her voice, the boy turned around and looked at her, she gasped and felt all the rage that she'd thought had subsided after screaming at the old man who'd caused his kids so much pain, rush back doubly.

The left side of her son's face was swollen; not too much, but it was obvious that he'd been hit in the face; and his left eye looked kinda puffy and red because of it. His lip was also a bit swollen. His small face was bruised, but there was absolutely no emotion in his eyes. Like the boy had once again locked himself inside his walls.

Deciding on her feet, she quickly left the room and was back less than a minute later with the first aid kit in her hand.

"Oh, my baby." She bit her lip and knelt beside him, reaching out to tilt his small face to the right so she could see the left side better.

The boy flinched inadvertently and quickly murmured an apology when he realized what he'd done.

Blinking back her tears, she put a hand on the right side of Tony's face and stroked his cheek. "I just tore that old guy to pieces," She stated instead of pointless calming words; the boy was way too used to this kinda pain to need anyone to calm him down. "But I wish I'd come to you first; that way I would've stepped on way more than three or four of his flowers."

Tony's eyes widened slightly and the corner of his mouth curled up as a grin formed but then he winced when the gesture pulled at his facial muscles.

"Would you let me check you?"

Tony shrugged, "It's nothing."

"It's not nothing." She wished she could hug him, but guessed he was hurting and she didn't want to cause him more pain.

"It'll disappear in a few days." He stated matter of factly; because it was a matter of fact to him; he'd been there, done that.

It was taking all her willpower not to cry and then walk away and kill the bastard who'd done this to her boy. "Stay here." She said and again, rushed out of the room. A minute later, she was back with a camera.

"Mom?" Tony's voice trembled.

"I'm sorry, baby. But I gotta make that old jerk pay." She said, not even realizing that she'd cursed in front of the kid and proceeded to take a few pictures of his face. "I'm gonna press charges against him. He shouldn't get away with this." She paused as she was almost afraid of asking the next question. "Is... Is there anything else?"

Tony hesitated a bit, but finally turned around and pulled his shirt up; his back was showing the first signs of some bruises, looking red and painful to touch.

Shannon was sure anyone but a person who'd lived through years of abuse would be complaining from the pain and even cry with bruises like that. She quickly took more pictures of his son's body. She'd make sure that this would be the last time anyone laid a hand on her son. The boy had been through so much and he still seemed to be unable to take a break. Of course, the man hadn't beat Tony, but even a backhand with enough force was enough for his small size and she knew Anderson was strong despite his size and she knew the man hadn't held back.

She then checked his body for any alarming sign, but finding nothing but bruises, she let him be for the time being.

As she was putting ointment on his swollen lip, she quietly said, "You're the bravest person I've ever met."

Tony's eyes went round again and he shook his head. "I was scared."

"Being scared doesn't mean you're not brave. I know you must've been scared; it couldn't have been easy to face him after what you've been through in your old house."

Tony looked down, but Shannon put a gentle finger under his chin and brought it up again.

"Yet, you stood up for your little sister and saved her, even though I'm sure it must've been harder for you than Abby. You've had the experience and you knew what was going to happen. Expecting something painful makes it worse; I know the feeling."

Tony swallowed and tried to look away, but he didn't say a word.

"I'm _so_ proud of you, Tony. You're my idol." She said quietly and gently pulled him into a hug.

A few seconds later, she pulled away and looked at her son again. "Why didn't you tell Jethro what's really happened?" She could think of a few reasons, like her husband not even giving the boy enough time to explain, but she wanted to be sure before saying anything to her husband.

"Didn't matter."

"Tony?"

"Abby's more important. I don't matter." Tony said stubbornly, looking down again.

Shannon felt her breath hitch and it took a great effort for her to open her mouth and talk. "Whoever said that?"

Tony remained quiet.

"Tony, look at me, please. _Who_ has said something so stupid?" She sincerely hoped Jethro hadn't said such a thing.

"No one."

"Tony?"

"No one." Tony repeated.

"Then why would you think that?" She asked with confusion. "You're both equally important and if she makes a mistake she should be the one punished, not you. You shouldn't take the blame for someone else's mistakes."

Tony shook his head. "No. She's more important. And Dad loves her."

Shannon's eyes narrowed; so this had something to do with Jethro and his behavior towards the kids; the way he favored one had obviously affected the other one. Especially since Tony was one who took things to heart quickly, making sure he did everything he could in order to make his parents proud.

"He said he's disappointed in me." Tony said quietly, not realizing that his mom was having a hard time not planning on throwing the love of her life out for good and be done with him. "I keep screwing up."

"Oh God! No, baby. That's not true."

"He said so."

Now, she wasn't even trying to remain level-headed, she'd torture him. Just wait till he got home.

"Ok, umm... Here's the thing." She used her best _'I'm the mother and I know the best'_ voice and summoned all her energy to remain calm and sound collected. "First of all, your daddy is in _huge_ trouble for not using his head and saying things without thinking; but he loves you very much. He loves you and Abby the same way. I assure you, son. We both do." She held the boy's head up in order to see his eyes and read his thoughts. "And you're anything but a disappointment and you so do _not_ screw up. Every kid, every _person_ , really, is allowed to make mistakes and what you and Abby occasionally do is just that; mistake. You got me?"

Tony didn't looked convinced, so he just shrugged.

"You've never ever let us down and Jethro and I are so proud of you. And what you did today to save your sister from pain, boy, we're even prouder of you if that's even possible." She said, with a shine in her eyes, "And if your dad has said otherwise, that's because he's a sucker for tears and-" she lowered her voice, "let's face it, Abby does burst into tears quite a lot. But I promise you, I'll show her there are other ways to deal with fear and pain and everything else. And Jethro will tell you that when he realizes that once again he's spoken without knowing the full story and without thinking." She smiled and winked.

"And you see, you're already so strong. Not that crying is wrong, but to cry over _everything_ is kinda weird." She sighed. "And to tell you the truth, it's Jethro who'd screwed up, baby; what he's done has been more than a simple mistake because he should've listened to you properly and he shouldn't have punished you so unfairly." Shaking her head, she said, "But for now, and since he's not home to face his punishments, let's go down and have some ice cream, huh? What do you say?"

Tony shook his head. "No, thanks. I'm grounded."

Could she punch a wall? Could she go to the Navy Yard and rip her beloved husband a new one in front of his teammates, please? Would it teach the stubborn, pigheaded man the important lesson?

She almost cursed Jethro out loud, but instead, she smiled and said, "No, you're not. Your Dad was wrong to punish you for something you haven't done. And since he doesn't know that because he left to go to work, I'm removing the unjustified punishment. You're free, my boy." She didn't wait for an answer; just stood up and gently pushed Tony upright. She wouldn't let the man's stupid mistake cause their son any more unnecessary pain.

"And then you can take a Tylenol if you want. Don't think I haven't noticed you're in pain."

"No thanks; I'm good." The boy said quietly, but let his mom usher him downstairs.

Shannon shook her head sadly and suppressed a sigh. What kind of 7 years old looked battered and bruised and still said I'm good? And what kind of kid tolerated pain so easily? She knew the answer, though; it was the kind of kid who was used to it. And that made her even more determined to protect the little boy from that kind of pain. It was past the time that someone stood up for _him_.

.

.

.

By the time Gibbs got back home, it was almost 2 in the morning and the kids had gone to bed hours ago.

That was what he expected when he entered his house; however, what he didn't expect to see was that his wife, who had to go to the hospital for an early shift the next morning; was still awake, sitting on the couch in the living room and sipping _coffee_ from her mug, if the aroma was anything to go by.

"Honey, why are you still awake?" He asked, feeling a bit concerned.

Shannon glanced up at him with a glare and then turned her gaze back to the wall she'd been staring at.

"Everything OK?" He asked quietly as his concern was replaced by dread in his gut.

"You remember our discussion a couple of months back about how I won't let you raise Abby to be a whiny, self-righteous woman?" Her voice was quiet and cold.

"Hard to forget." Gibbs mumbled, realizing that she was mad at him for punishing Tony again. But as he remembered the event of the day, he reassured himself that this time he could defend his actions rightfully.

"I forgot one important thing to add."

Jethro frowned; this wasn't what he'd imagined she'd say; he was about to ask what she was talking about, when she started talking again.

"While I won't let you do that to Abby, I also won't let you raise Tony to be a man with no sense of self-respect and little to no self-esteem. I know he will be strong and self-reliant, anyway; because at least he'll know the difference between wrong and right and understands that he has to be tough to survive in a world where men still think apology is a sign of weakness; boys should be handled roughly because they are usually physically more muscular and crying is a feminine thing to, no matter how devastated a situation is;" her tone was laced with sarcasm as she uttered those words; "and he already is overprotective, so those things won't be the problems in his future; but self-esteem? He doesn't have much of it to begin with and I won't let you destroy what's left of it."

"If this is about the new punishment-"

"Damn right it's about the new punishment." She hissed, her eyes shining with a kind of fire that he'd never seen before.

Before he could say something back and before he could even get really angry, she grabbed a few photos from the table in front of her and held them up for him to see.

With confusion, he took them and bent towards the table lamp to be able to look at them better. What he saw stopped his heart for a moment. With shaking hands, he went through them, looking more and more horrified with each passing second.

"These... Shannon, you gotta know I'd never do this. What... What happened to him? Oh God!" He was too shocked to even think; trying to remember if in his anger he'd done something he couldn't remember; even though he was sure he'd never do something like this because it just wasn't in his nature. "Tony!"

"Yes, Tony." Shannon wasn't looking at him and was still scarily calm. "I've been looking at them the whole night." She said coldly; "of course, not before putting Tony to bed, because until then, I had it live before my eyes. No need to look at a picture when the real thing is in front of you." She took a gulp of her coffee before continuing. "And you should've seen Abby. She kept bursting into tears every time she saw Tony, but this time I can't blame her; _I_ felt like crying every time I remembered he'd been hurt again." Another gulp and now Gibbs was sure it wasn't a normal coffee she was drinking; she must've made herself an Irish coffee or something. "The funny part? Tony kept holding his head in an angle that we wouldn't see the bruised side and he finally decided to have an early night and went to his room to spare our feelings." She chuckled bitterly and then bit her lip.

The man was still too shocked to speak; he knew for sure he hadn't done this, but if somehow he had, he'd break his own hand in a way that he'd never be able to move the appendage again.

"I ripped Anderson a new one; but had I seen Tony first, I would've killed him. I took pictures to report him. That's what I'm gonna do first thing tomorrow morning."

"Anderson did this?" Gibbs whispered.

Tilting her head, she finally looked at him. "So you punished him _before_ even knowing what had happened? Before noticing that he'd been hurt? Some father you are!"

"I..." Gibbs shook his head. She was right; some father he was. "I thought-"

"That's the problem, Jethro. You always just think and _assume_ things and act on your _assumptions_. Abby told me what happened; you wanna know the _truth_ now? Instead of what you've clearly _assumed_ to be true, I mean!" She asked and without waiting for an answer, she went on. "Abby had been running around, trying to catch bugs; she hadn't noticed that she'd entered Anderson's yard and had walked over his stupid shitty flowers. Tony'd gone after her to take her out when Anderson arrived and Tony seeing the anger in the man's eyes and having seen that kind of anger a lot in his short life, quickly took the blame for Abby's mistake.

"The bastard backhanded him so hard that my son was thrown to the ground. Still, he managed to shield Abby until he found the opportunity to grab her and rush back home; _w_ _here_ his stupid _father_ only saw the crying girl and not the scared, hurting boy and not only that, the so called _father_ had also gone so far as calling him a screw-up, telling him he was disappointed in him and then grounding him for a whole _month_." She finished her tale, sounding both irritated and horrified.

Gibbs was so overwhelmed that he couldn't do anything. On the one hand, he thought he should just go to the bastard who'd hurt his son like that and break every single bone in his body; and on the other hand, he could do the same to his own stupid head. Shannon was right again; he didn't deserve to be called a father.

"No murdering Anderson." Shannon, knowing him so well, interrupted his thoughts. "At first I wanted to let you deal with him; but when I saw Tony... No." She shook her head. "No! This is beyond us. He gotta actually pay for it." She shook her head again and got up from the couch. "And of course I told Tony he's not grounded."

"Of course." Gibbs nodded quickly, not even thinking that she'd done so without telling him first.

"Going to bed. You can sleep down here."

"Shannon..." The man whispered desperately, not because he was exiled; but because he needed help. He needed help to fix this; to fix what he'd ruined. He needed help to start becoming a dad worthy of Tony.

She paused and turn around to look at her husband when she said the next part. "You know what Tony said when I asked him why he hadn't told you what happened? Aside from _you_ not letting him explain, of course! He said because Abby was more important and he didn't matter." She watched in the dim light of the room as the man, who she wasn't sure she loved all that much at that moment, lost the color in his face. "Congrats, honey!" She said sarcastically. "Mission accomplished. Our boy has remembered the lesson his first father instilled into him and he's successfully and apparently _permanently_ put in his place. Good job!"

The man's face crumpled and he closed his eyes as he sank into the couch burying his face in his hands. His wife didn't say another word; she just walked away, leaving him in his misery because that was what he deserved for what he'd done.

**.**

**.**

**TBC ...**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Let me know what you think?
> 
> .
> 
> .
> 
> I still own nothing but my own plots and of course my mistakes.
> 
> .


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, keep in mind that these stories happen in 1970s and each story of this series is a standalone.

The next morning, Gibbs' eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he'd clenched his jaw so hard and for so long that his jaw had locked that way.

He was still holding Tony's pictures when Shannon woke up and came down the stairs; taking a good look at him, she rolled her eyes, took the pictures from his hand and put them in her purse before going into the kitchen to prepare breakfast and making some coffee.

"Shannon, have you talked to Abby?" Gibbs sounded hoarse as he followed her into the kitchen and sat down.

"About what?" She yawned.

"Should we ground her or something?"

She turned around and frowned; "She didn't do it on purpose and I think she's been through enough. You have no idea how much she cried yesterday."

Gibbs nodded, but said, "You're right. But I was thinking... I... Well, I punished Tony for no reason and the last time I grounded him was for that stupid vase, which again wasn't just his fault and again they hadn't broken it on purpose. So, I was thinking that if we want to be fair, we have to ground Abby, now. So that Tony sees she'd get punished as well and so that she learns she has to be more careful from now on or someone might get hurt."

She liked how that sounded. "Fair is fair." She shrugged and then nodded her head in agreement.

Gibbs sighed and took the coffee mug from her and sat down at the table. He didn't even offer an apology this time, after all, he knew she wasn't expecting one; what she wanted was for him to grow up and act like a real good dad; and well, a decent, fair human being, he supposed.

She was right; he had two kids and just because one was a boy didn't mean he had to be dealt a bad hand all the time or that he shouldn't be given any praise and just watch as his sibling got away with mistakes and got praised for no reason. They were equals and if he said it, he had to act it, too and it was probably past the time that he learned that boys and girls weren't different; expressing different feelings with them wouldn't show them how they were equally loved.

He'd finally started to see that it was wrong to assume that boys didn't need to be told or shown they're loved like girls did.

Half an hour later, they heard the sound of light footsteps, indicating that one of the kids was awake and was about to join them in the kitchen; Gibbs looked towards the stairs to see which one of the kids was coming down. Moments later, his son appeared down the stairs and he paused when he saw his dad sitting there.

"Hi." He said quietly and if his stiff posture was anything to go by, the boy was in pain.

"Morning, son." Gibbs smiled, and barely kept his gasp to himself when he saw Tony's face for the first time up-close. It was worse than what he'd seen in those pictures. Now the bruise on his left cheek seemed to have gotten darker, making the slight swelling look more pronounced. He knew they needed to take more pictures before going to the cops to make a case against Anderson.

Tony saw the reaction and quickly turned around, making sure that he had the left side of his face hidden from both parents.

"Let me see it, honey." Shannon wasn't going to have any of it, though. She grabbed his chin gently and turned her son's face towards the light to see it better. "Is it worse than yesterday?" She asked, trusting the boy's judgment.

"No. It's just a bruise. It always gets darker before going away. I'm good." He answered quietly and when they heard Abby's footsteps, he quickly pulled his face away and turned so Abby wouldn't see the bruising to his face.

"Morning." The sleepy girl yawned as she entered the kitchen. "Oh. Hi, Daddy."

"Hey, Sweetie."

Shannon set the table so they could eat; she knew the atmosphere was heavy and knowing Tony, he'd soon retreat to his room and she didn't want him to do so without some food in him.

"So, did you kids have a good night?" Gibbs asked, addressing both kids.

Shannon almost growled at the stupid question, glaring at the same time at her husband.

Tony just said yes, but Abby started to talk about her bad dreams and mean men and monsters. This had been the first time she'd seen someone hitting someone else and it'd shaken her. But both parents knew that it must've hit Tony harder; yet, the boy didn't say a word.

Once the breakfast was over, Tony asked if he could leave as Abby wondered if she could go play outside, but Gibbs stopped them both.

"I need to talk to you both, first."

Both kid sat back down dutifully.

"Tony..." He paused, trying to find the best way to address the painful experience his son had gone through and also showing him how sorry he really was; how he'd learned a valuable lesson the he'd never forget. "I... I don't know how to say it, but I owe you a really big apology." He bit his lip as he collected himself. "I'm sorry for not letting you explain what'd happened yesterday. You didn't deserve the punishment and of course you're not grounded anymore, which of course your mom has already told you." He added quickly. "I'm just saying this to tell you I was wrong and that I'm sorry for hurting you instead of asking you what'd happened."

"Thanks." The boy muttered quietly; not knowing how to react to an apology from a grownup.

"Abby, you, on the other hand, are grounded." Gibbs addressed the little girl, knowing that this way Tony'd see that they were equally loved and cherished, despite the previous examples.

As he'd expected, that got a stronger reaction out of the little boy. Tony looked up with shock and the shock in his eyes was harder to take than Abby's pout.

"But, Dadddyyyyy-" The girl whined, trying to find a way out of it.

"No, Abby!" He stopped the whining fast. "You weren't careful yesterday and if your brother hadn't been there to have your back, Anderson would've hit you, too. Also, that's not the worst thing that could happen when you're not careful. You have to learn that it's important to be careful and pay attention to where you're going and what you do."

She looked down, her lips trembled and then she started to cry.

It was hard for the man to take the tears, but looking at Shannon and seeing her nod and approval, he realized he was doing the right thing and that this had to be done. "Did you thank your brother for being there and having your six?"

Abby looked up with watery eyes and then looked at Tony who was now even more flabbergasted; like he couldn't believe this was actually happening and that their dad was still talking when Abby was crying.

"Thank you, Tony." She said sincerely. "I love you. I'm so sorry you got hurt because of me."

Despite his shock, Tony smiled. "It's OK, Abby. You're more important." He reassured her quickly and in his innocent mind he couldn't see how wrong it was for a kid to think he's not as important as the others.

"No! That's not true, Tony. Not at all!" Gibbs disagreed immediately, sounding baffled, even though Shannon had already informed him of how their son saw himself compared to Abby. "You're both important and Abby promises to be more careful from now on. You shouldn't get hurt because of her, just like she shouldn't get hurt because of you. You two are siblings and you have to have each other's back, but that doesn't mean one of you is more important than the other. We love you both the same way. OK?"

Tony's mouth was slightly open, and while Abby was nodding her head, Tony sat there with an open mouth, not reacting in any way.

"So, Abby, you see why you have to be grounded?" Gibbs chose to finish that part first before going back to Tony and addressing his issue.

"Because I wasn't careful?" She asked quietly.

"Yes. And because you didn't listen when I told you not to leave the yard and because you did enter someone else's place without permission." Their dad explained. "Also, you got away from your punishment when you broke that vase. It wasn't fair to just ground Tony. I made a mistake back then and I think it's only fair that we fix it now."

"OK." She said meekly, remembering that incident as well and understanding her dad's logic even if it confused her why she was being punished now and after so long.

"So, you're grounded for a month."

Her eyes widened and she looked at her mommy, hoping she'd do something, but the woman just shook her head. "Fair is fair, baby."

Her shoulders slumped, but she nodded. She supposed they were right. Tony had gotten hurt because of her after all and besides, he'd taken his punishment when they'd both broken that vase together. She always looked up to Tony and believed he was the most amazing brother ever and if he could take it, then she could take it too.

"Good. Now, that it's settled. Please go to your room. And remember; no bugs, no going out. No video games; no TV and no toys. You're allowed to have your drawing books and crayons and you _will_ do your chores and come to eat with us every meal. We good?"

"Yes, Daddy." She said quietly before getting up from her chair to go to her room. On her way out, she paused and cast another look at Tony, thinking that maybe she wasn't allowed to talk to Tony either. Summoning her courage, she kissed Tony's right cheek and mumbled a quiet _"thank you, Tony,"_ before quickly running up the stairs.

"No running inside the house, please." Shannon called after her and shook her head with amusement.

"Can I go, too?" Tony asked, feeling uncomfortable around his dad when he was looking at him like that.

Getting up from his seat, Gibbs went to Tony's side and knelt in front of him. "Tony, son, I meant what I said. We love you both equally." he repeated, this time sounding pleading. "I know I've screwed up when I made it look like that you weren't, but I've never loved you any less than I've loved Abby. You two are my world and I can't think of anything worse than seeing either of you hurt or sad."

Desperate to get away, Tony nodded, still not looking up at the man in front of him. It was clear, though, that he didn't believe what he was hearing.

"And I'm sorry for assuming things and not letting you explain." The young father added. "I think I should add a rule to our rules for that. Never assume, always double-check." He announced.

"I like this one." His wife approved, finally saying something positive about Gibbs that morning.

"I also owe you a huge apology for when I yelled at you for that vase and for making you think you are the only one in this house who gets punished for making mistakes."

"In fact," Shannon spoke up, "Your dad's mistake is pretty huge, which means he's gonna get punished, now."

Tony's head shot up and he shook his head; wincing slightly when the movement hurt his head. He didn't want to be the reason his parents fought, so he was surprised when instead of complaining, his dad conceded.

"Yes, I do deserve to be grounded."

"No TV for you. No beer, no going out with old buddies, so they better not show up during the next month." Shannon stated. "Also, you're banned from the basement. No woodwork. You're just allowed to read. Any question?"

Sighing, Gibbs said, "I do get to go to work, right?"

"Sadly I can't keep you from that. But I'll talk to Mike Franks; so no extra activity there, either. You'll go to work and come straight back home. And you're sleeping on the couch until the further notice."

Wincing at the last part, he finally shrugged and accepted his punishment. "Fair is fair, huh?"

"Now, I'm gonna go call the cops and make Anderson pay for hurting our son. No one touches my babies." She growled angrily and walked away.

 _'Damn straight.'_ Gibbs thought and a dangerous glint shone in his eyes and for a moment, Tony was afraid he'd go and do something to Mr. Anderson, but remembered that they were calling the cops, so he guessed they were safe.

He was startled when he felt his dad's hand on his shoulder and heard him say, "I'm so proud of you, Tony. You've never let me down and I'm so lucky to have a son like you."

Tony averted his eyes, feeling delighted and yet shy as he was unable to believe those words.

"You've always made me proud and with the way you had your sister's back, you made me even prouder. I shouldn't have said those things yesterday; I'll do better. I wanna be a better dad to you and I promise to show you how much your trust means to me. I hope Abby learns from you and grows up to be just as brave and strong and reliable as you are. I need to be sure someone has _your_ six when your mother and I aren't around to do so." He stated and silently scolded himself for not having his son's six recently, vowing to do better from then on.

"Thanks." The boy said quietly.

"That being said, I don't want you to put yourself in danger. You hear me, Tony? Never. We won't be able to take it if _anything_ happened to you." Gibbs said next, with a hint of fear in his voice.

Tony was unable to promise something like that. He knew he wouldn't keep it; he just couldn't, so he did the next best thing and hopped his dad would let it go. "I can't take it if you or mommy or Abby get hurt, either." he said and finally got up from the chair. "I'll be in my room."

He left so quickly that the young dad didn't even get the chance to call him on his evasiveness and the lack of promise.

Sighing, Gibbs got up and went to find his wife and see how the things with the cops had gone. He figured working on Tony's self-esteem was a long-term project and although with his thoughtless actions, he'd stupidly added to the young boy's self-doubt, he was determined to meet that objective successfully and help Tony see that he was as important as everyone else.

He thought about how throughout the whole conversation, Tony had barely looked at him and had never smiled at him; not even slightly. He wasn't sure whether it was because Tony didn't believe him and was just being cordial and a good son when he'd nodded or because he was so disappointed in him that he didn't think he deserved to be a receiver of his smile.

He was pretty sure the former was true, but he knew that he'd disappointed his son, as well and now he had to work hard to gain back the boy's trust and approval, no matter how long it took.

For now, he was just thankful for his wise wife who was there to remind him when he forgot the important stuff and became too pigheaded; he needed her to be able to raise their children right and if she went too hard on him every now and then, well, he clearly deserved it. He loved his family, all of them, and was horrified to realize his words and actions had made his son doubt it.

So, to open his eyes and see why it was necessary to show them how much he needed them and cherished them all, he'd needed Shannon to put him in his place.

Fair is fair, after all.

.

.

**That's it!**

**.**

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Let me know what you think?
> 
> .
> 
> I still own nothing but my own plots and of course my mistakes.
> 
> .


End file.
